graphic of xbox game pass cover Microsoft

XBOX Sets 50 Percent Price Hike for Game Pass Ultimate

Originally posted on Nerdist | By Sarah Campbell | Last updated Oct 6, 2025 9:12 PM ET

We have already seen a wild amount of price hikes so far for streaming services in 2025. Gamers now share the frustration as Xbox announces changes to its Game Pass plans, including a whopping 50% price increase for the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate tier (yikes!)

Beginning this month, the cost of the Xbox Game Plan Ultimate will rise from $19.99 a month to $29.99 a month, meaning an extra $120 per year. The increase comes just over a year since the last one, when the Ultimate plan jumped from $16.99 to $19.99 in July 2024. Accompanying the price hike are several new in-game features for each tier.

Updates To Tier Plans

Xbox is rolling out three upgraded Game Pass plans: Essential (replacing Core), Premium (replacing Standard), and Ultimate. Each tier is complete with expanded game libraries, unlimited cloud gaming, in-game benefits, and revamped rewards.

Game Pass Core subscribers will automatically move to Essential, Standard subscribers to Premium, and Ultimate subscribers will remain in their current Ultimate plan. While Ultimate faced a 50% price increase, Essential and Premium will remain at $14.99 a month and $9.99 a month, respectively. The PC Game Pass increased by more than a third, bumping up to $16.49 a month.

As another added benefit, Fortnite Crew and Ubisoft+ Classics will now be included as part of the Ultimate plan for the first time ever.

infographic depicting xbox game pass tiers Microsoft

If you’re looking for ways to sneak around the price hike, don’t worry. We’ve got you covered.

Your best option is to stack your Game Pass membership to its max (36 months) before the change is enforced at retailers like Amazon. Currently, Amazon still has one-month codes available for $19.99 (the previous cost). They also offer three-month codes at the same rate ($59.99). The max you can fill your account with is 12, translating to $719.88 (or $239.96 a year).

With a little simple math, three years of Game Pass Ultimate at the new $29.99 rate would total $1,079.94. That’s $359.76 more than the Amazon price.

Obviously, we’re not suggesting that you drop over $700 at once for a subscription. That’s a lot of money. But if you were planning to do it anyway, stocking up now would save you a few hundred bucks in the grand scheme of things. Other retailers that have yet to match Microsoft’s price hike include GameStop, Best Buy, Target, and Walmart.